Should the Jobs Bill Be Held Up for an Estate Tax?

"There is a push underway by Republicans in Congress to trade their support for a jobs bill for a more favorable estate tax.

The left says it is a blatant case of the rich holding the poor hostage. The right say it is the only way to get a reasonable compromise on the estate-tax issue. [...]

Republicans want a full repeal of the tax or a version more along the lines of a proposal by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), which would cap the tax at 35 percent on estates worth more than $5 million.

Republicans aren’t likely to win a full repeal (especially not in these populist times) but they may get something close to the Kyl-Lincoln plan.

Lee Farris, Estate Tax Policy Coordinator at the left-leaning United for a Fair Economy called the plan to link the estate tax to the jobs bill 'an outrage.'

'Why are Senators Kyl and Grassley more worried about enriching the heirs of multimillionaires than about helping Americans hit hardest by the recession?' she said in a statement. [...]"